1 Thessalonians 5:11(NIV) ~ “Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing.”

1 Thessalonians 5:11(NIV) ~ “Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing.”

Recently, I watched an American football match, called the Super Bowl. In it, players on one team were trying to pull players on the other team down to gain the advantage. They tried to jockey for position, while pushing others aside in order to win the game.

Another example of this occurs in the business world. You can see people taking advantage of others, while using them as stepping-stones to gain promotion. Some even try to discredit people for their own selfish motives.

To the shame of the church, I have seen these things happen over the years among believers. People using other people, as stepping-stones for their own advantage, making others look bad, and people who try to discredit fellow believers in order to promote themselves. Still others jockey for position within the church, and in the area of church politics, they pull other people down for their own selfish motives.

The church at Thessalonica was a role model for other churches. They were described as people who built each other up in the faith, and encouraged others to do the same. Surely, this way is more productive, more beneficial, and more Christ like, is it not?

In an international rugby match, if the ball went out of play, the players would lift each other up to get the ball, as it is thrown back into the field of play. What would happen if we started to do that more often with each other? Would there not be a great bond in the Lord between us? Just imagine how you would feel if someone came over to you and started to build you up in the Lord. How would it make you feel to know that someone had spent time in prayer for you and went out of the way to bless you? Wouldn’t the world look at the church and say, “See how they love one another”?

My friend, let us try and build each other up, not tear at each other, or pull each other down. Let us hold each other up in prayer, let us build each other up in the most holy faith. Let us do the Christ-like thing, and edify each other.

Just think on this; what kind of church would you like to attend, one where people pull you down, or one where people would edify you, and built you up, and who would encourage you in the Lord all the time? Sometimes, we have to be brave, and let it start with us, reaching out to others, edifying them, encouraging them and building them up in His name, for what you sow, you shall surely reap.